Install the Flash plugin to view videos, animations and games

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Adobe Flash Player is a plugin that allows browsers such as Firefox to display Flash media on web pages. Flash is often used for animations, videos and games. This article explains how to install Flash.

When you visit a webpage that uses Flash and the plugin is missing, you will see the message "A plugin is needed to display this content" for parts of the page that require Flash (if at all):

Follow the steps below to install the latest Flash Player plugin.

Table of Contents

Installing Flash using the Plugin Finder Service

If you don't have Flash installed you may see a yellowblack info bar with an Install Missing Plugin button. This is the Plugin Finder Service and it won't work on OS XLinux. To install Flash, skip to the next section, Installing the Flash plugin manually.

If you don't have Flash installed you may see an info panel with an Install Flash button. This is the Plugin Finder Service and it won't work on OS XLinux. To install Flash, skip to the next section, Installing the Flash plugin manually.

A yellow notification bar will appear above the webpage. Click Install Missing Plugins. The Plugin Finder Service window will appear.An info panel will appear above the webpage. Click Install Flash and the Plugin Finder Service window will appear.

Select the most recent version of Flash listed, then click Next >.

If Windows asks to allow Adobe Flash Player to make changes to your computer, click Yes.

In the Flash installer window, click the check box next to I have read and agree to the terms of the Flash Player License Agreement and then click the INSTALL button that will become activated, to begin the installation.

When the installation is done, click Finish. The page will reload and you should have Flash installed.

Installing the Flash plugin manually

Caution: Adobe's download page may include a checkbox for optional software (such as Google Chrome or McAfee Security Scan) that is selected by default. If you do not clear the checkbox before downloading, that software will be installed on your computer when you open the Flash installer.

When the download has finished, close Firefox.

At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox button and then select ExitAt the top of the Firefox window, click on the File menu and then select ExitOn the menu bar, click on the Firefox menu and select Quit FirefoxAt the top of the Firefox window, click on the File menu and select Quit

Click the menu button
and then click ExitQuit

Open the Flash installer file you downloaded and follow the instructions.

Note: If you are having problems with the Flash installer from Adobe's download page, you can use this Flash Player installer link to directly download the full installer.

At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox button and then select ExitAt the top of the Firefox window, click on the File menu and then select ExitOn the menu bar, click on the Firefox menu and select Quit FirefoxAt the top of the Firefox window, click on the File menu and select Quit

Click the menu button
and then click ExitQuit

Open the file you downloaded (i.e. install_flash_player_osx_intel.dmg).

In the Finder, open the Install Adobe Flash Player.app to run the installer, then follow the installer's instructions.

At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox button and then select ExitAt the top of the Firefox window, click on the File menu and then select ExitOn the menu bar, click on the Firefox menu and select Quit FirefoxAt the top of the Firefox window, click on the File menu and select Quit

Click the menu button
and then click ExitQuit

Open a Terminal window (in Gnome, click on the Applications menu, select Accessories, and then select Terminal.)

In the Terminal window, change to the directory where you saved the file you downloaded (e.g. cd /home/user/Downloads).

Extract libflashplayer.so from the file you downloaded with the command tar -zxvf install_flash_player_"version"_linux."processor".tar.gz.

As the super user, copy the extracted file, libflashplayer.so, to your Firefox installation directory's plugins sub-directory. For example, if Firefox is installed in /usr/lib/mozilla, use the command sudo cp libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins and then enter your super user password when prompted.

Keeping Flash up-to-date

The latest version of the Flash plugin should perform better and crash less often. To check if Flash is up to date, visit Mozilla's Plugin Check page. If it says that Flash needs to be updated, install the latest version manually using the steps in the section above.